Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII (28 June 1491-28 January 1547) was King of England and Ireland from 21 April 1509 to 28 January 1547, succeeding Henry VII and preceding Edward VI. King Henry was best known for his six marriages (Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr), his role in spearheading the English Reformation, his expansion of royal power, his execution or banishment of those at his court who fell out of his favor, his costly continental wars with King Francis I of France and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and his legal union of England, Ireland, and Wales. A lustful, egotistical, harsh, and insecure king, Henry was one of the most charismatic figures to sit on the English throne.

Early life
Henry was born in Greenwich, Kent, England on 28 June 1491, the son of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the brother of Arthur, Prince of Wales, Margaret Tudor, and Mary Tudor. He was appointed Earl Marshal of England, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, a Knight of the Order of the Bath, and Warden of the Scottish Marches at the age of three, ensuring that his father could control such important titles without giving them to other families. In 1502, his brother Arthur died of the sweating sickness, just 20 weeks after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The 10-year-old Henry became the new Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, making him heir to the throne. He was betrothed to marry his brother's widow, and Henry acceded to the throne on his own father's death on 21 April 1509. On 11 June 1509, Henry and Catherine married, becoming King and Queen of England.

Early reign
Two days after his coronation, Henry had his father's unpopular ministers Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley imprisoned, and he had them both executed in 1510. Henry would continue to use execution as his primary tactic for dealing with those who stood in his way, developing an aura of fear around him. However, he was also known to be attractive, educated, and accomplished, and he took several mistresses during his marriage to Queen Catherine. From 1516 to 1519, he took Catherine's lady-in-waiting Elizabeth Blount as a mistress, and he made their illegitimate son Henry FitzRoy Duke of Richmond and Somerset; he died at the age of 17 in 1536.

In 1510, King Henry renewed his father's friendship with King Louis XII of France as France warred against the Republic of Venice in the War of the League of Cambrai, but he also signed a pact with King Ferdinand II of Aragon, his father-in-law. In 1511, he entered the war against France, and he planned an Anglo-Spanish invasion of Aquitaine in 1512 to recover the region for England. However, this invasion was a disaster. On 30 June 1513, King Henry invaded France and defeated the French at the Battle of the Spurs. Soon after, he captured Therouanne and Tournai. His absence from England allowed for his brother-in-law James IV of Scotland to invade England, but Queen Catherine oversaw the decisive defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Flodden, during which King James was killed and his army destroyed. By 1514, however, England's coffers were empty, and Henry signed a treaty with King Louis, marrying off his sister Mary to the French king. The English and French signed an eight-year peace treaty, and Henry's close adviser, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, persuaded him to sign the 1518 Treaty of London with Louis' successor, Henry's cousin Francis I of France, to preserve peace.

Foreign and domestic challenges
However, Henry was annoyed by Francis' arrogance and his insistence that France had better wrestlers, music, men, and other features, and Henry even lost a wrestling match with Francis in front of several diplomats from both countries during the 1521 renewal of the treaty near Calais; Henry wanted to prove that France's wrestlers were not always better. This embarrassment led to Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, a Lancastrian claimant to the throne, attempting to overthrow the "usurper" Tudor monarchy, but Henry was made aware of this plot, and he had Buckingham beheaded.

King Henry refused to renew the Treaty of London due to the air of competition between England and France, and he instead decided to approach Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, with an alliance offer. King Henry promised his daughter Mary's hand in marriage to Charles V, having previously arranged for her betrothal to King Francis' son Dauphin Henry, and he also showed Charles his impressive navy. They decided that the combination of England's powerful navy with Charles' massive Habsburg empire would be unstoppable, and they concluded an alliance with each other. In 1525, King Henry celebrated Charles' victory over Francis at the Battle of Pavia with grand celebrations, including jousting. Charles later broke his word, marrying Isabella of Portugal (whose dowry was 1 million pounds) rather than waiting for Mary to grow up.

Annullment from Catherine of Aragon
After nearly drowning in a ditch after a failed stunt, Henry realized that he had no male heir to succeed him, and he demanded that Cardinal Wolsey arrange for a divorce from Catherine. Henry made his son Henry FitzRoy a duke, angering Catherine, who felt that Henry was putting his bastard son above Mary, his legitimate child. His passion for Catherine's lady-in-waiting Anne Boleyn (the daughter of nobleman Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire and the sister of Henry's previous lover, Mary Boleyn) grew as he sought to divorce Catherine, but she refused to become his mistress.